People handle nicotine differently. But it's not the molasses or anything else making people sick, it's the nicotine, so just take it easy next time. And I agree with ModestMuse; I've never seen someone boot from just smoking hookah. Now, if you're shitfaced drunk and hit our hookah, you're fucked 'cause you're just askin' for a technicolor yawn.

I just remembered reading somewhere that you take in carcinogens from the charcoal? I highly doubt it. The charcoal doesn't touch the tobacco if you smoke correctly. The smoke is produced simply from the heat of the coal. Cooking with charcoal is commonplace, so I don't think the coal is a liability.